Samsung PM9A3 3.84TB U.2 NVMe Data Centre SSD

The Samsung PM9A3 is a PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe data-centre SSD, and the 3.84 TB U.2 version (MZQL23T8HCLS-00A07) is its most widely deployed configuration. Built on Samsung sixth-generation TLC V-NAND with the Elpis controller, it delivers up to 6,900 MB/s sequential read and 4,100 MB/s sequential write, 1,000K random read IOPS and 180K random write IOPS, with end-to-end data protection, power-loss protection capacitors and TCG Opal encryption. Endurance is rated at 1 DWPD, equal to 7,008 TB written over the five-year warranty.

Cloud and hosting providers buy PM9A3 by the tray for read-intensive storage tiers, Ceph and vSAN clusters and database hosts, and the drive is qualified in Dell, HPE, Lenovo and Supermicro server bays. The 7 mm U.2 form factor fits standard 2.5-inch hot-swap carriers, while the same drive is also made in M.2 22110 and E1.S for specific chassis. When planning a deployment, pay attention to capacity-specific performance figures (the 960 GB and 1.92 TB versions write slower), to firmware revisions, which OEMs track by part-number suffix, and to the fact that PM9A3 is an OEM product sold without retail packaging.

Enterprise SSDs are contracted and invoiced by InTechnologies' licensed partners. InTechnologies sources the drives from authorised distribution and verified channel stock, checks serial numbers before dispatch, consolidates in Dubai Airport Freezone and ships DDP or DDU to the destination.